First Offshore Wind Farm Gets Green Light

By Mikel Chavers, CSG Associate Editor

After nine years of being put in a holding pattern by the federal government, regulators approved the first wind farm in the U.S. called Cape Wind, off the coast of Massachusetts, according to The New York Times. The offshore wind farm will use giant wind turbines placed in the water off the coast of Cape Cod. The turbines will use the stronger wind off the coast to generate electricity.

Offshore wind farms must wait to get the OK from the federal government because they are technically on federal property offshore and do not fall under state jurisdictions.

Cape Wind suffered from its share of critics when local Native Americans complained the turbines would harm areas of cultural significance to them and residents in Massachusetts complained the wind turbines off the coast would block the view.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced at a press conference in Massachusetts his approval of the offshore wind farm.

State officials all up and down the Eastern seaboard are trying to attract offshore wind farm projects to their coastlines but told Capitol Ideas magazine it was taking way too long for the projects to be approved by the federal government for permitting.

See the May/June issue of Capitol Ideas magazine for more.